Luke 22:44 And being in an agony [of mind], He prayed [all the] more earnestly and intently, and His sweat became like great clots of blood dropping down upon the ground.
Genesis 17:5
Nor shall your name any longer be Abram [high, exalted father]; but your name shall be Abraham [father of a multitude], for I have made you the father of many nations.
Isaiah 6:6-8
New
Living Translation
6 Then one of the seraphim flew
to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of
tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has
touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are
forgiven.”
8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom
should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for
us?”
I said,
“Here I am. Send me.”
Revelation 22:2
2 Through the middle
of the broadway of the city; also, on either side of the river was the tree of
life with its twelve varieties of fruit, yielding each month its fresh crop; and
the leaves of the tree were for the healing and
the restoration of the nations.
Abram, Abraham [Ā'brăm,Ā'brăhăm]—the father of a multitude. The original name of the
youngest son of Terah was Abram, meaning “father of height.” Abraham was given
to him when the promise of a numerous progeny was renewed to him by God
(Gen. 11:26;
17:5, 9).
The Man Who Was God’s Friend
Abraham’s place in the Bible’s portrait
gallery is altogether unique and unapproachable. He stands out as a landmark in
the spiritual history of the world. Chosen of God to become the father of a new
spiritual race, the file leader of a mighty host, the revelation of God found in
him one of its most important epochs. In himself, there was not much to make him
worthy of such a distinction. His choice was all of grace.
Abraham’s life is given us in detail, and we
know him as we know few men of the Bible. He was from the great and populous
city of Ur, and therefore a Gentile although he became the first Hebrew. He was
a rough, simple, venerable Bedouin-like sheep master. He uttered no prophecy,
wrote no book, sang no song, gave no laws. Yet in the long list of Bible saints
he alone is spoken of as “the father of the faithful” and as “the friend of God”
(Isa. 41:8). Let us briefly sketch his story and character.
I. He was born in Ur of the Chaldees, of
parents who were heathen. Little is known of him until he was seventy years old,
a striking proof that he had yielded himself to God before he left his heathen
home for the far-off land of Canaan.
II. He received a distinct revelation from
God, and of God, but we are not told how and when. This, however, we do know: He
gave up a certainty for an uncertainty and went out not knowing whither he went.
Willingly he surrendered the seen for the unseen.
III. He was taught the lesson of patience,
of waiting upon the Eternal God. It was many years before the promise of God was
fulfilled to him—promises three in number—of a country, Canaan;
of posterity, as the stars of heaven; of a spiritual seed, through whom all the families of the earth would
be blessed.
IV. He believed as he waited. His soul fed
upon the promises of God. He believed God in the face of long delay and also
amid difficulties that seemed insuperable. This is why he is called “the father
of all them that believe.”
V. He was renowned for his active, working,
living faith (Gen. 15:6). Abraham believed in God and it was counted to him for
righteousness.
VI. He was subject to failures. His
character, like the sun, had its spots. Abraham’s conduct to Hagar on two
occasions, in sending her away, is painful to remember. Then his departure from
Canaan into Egypt when the famine was on was surely not an act of faith. The
falsehood which on two occasions he told with regard to Sarah his wife gives us
a glimpse into a natural character somewhat cowardly, deceitful and distrustful
(Gen. 12:19;
20:2).
VII. He was called to offer up special
sacrifices. The first is fully described in Genesis fifteen, where the five
victims offered in sacrifice to God were symbolic and typical of the whole
Mosaic economy to come. Then we have the offering up of Isaac, an act of faith
on Abraham’s part and yet a trial of faith (Gen.
22). What a demand God made! But Abraham did
not withhold his only son of promise. What God wanted was Abraham’s heart, not
Isaac’s life. So when the knife was raised to slay Isaac, a provided substitute
appeared. After this sacrifice Abraham received the testimony that he had
pleased God.
The Bible offers us many types of Christ,
Isaac being one of the chiefest, but Abraham is the only type in
Scripture of God the Father. Abraham so loved God as to give up his only
son, and centuries before Christ was born entered into the inner heart of
John 3:16. After serving God faithfully, Abraham died when 175 years of
age.
There are many profitable lessons to be
gleaned from the biography of this notable man of God:
Faith has always trials.
Being a Christian does not mean that trial is impossible or unnecessary. The
greater the faith, the greater the trial.
Faith shines through the
cloud. How the patience and meekness of Jesus are manifest through His
trials! Take away Abraham’s trials and where is his faith? Faith must be tried,
in order that faith may live.
Faith in spite of trial
glorifies God. Abraham’s story is written in tears and blood, but how God
was glorified by his trials of faith! Abraham’s obedience of faith earned him
the honor, “Abraham My friend!” Truly, there is no greater rank or greater honor
than to be described thus. Yet such is our privilege if ours is the obedience of
faith, for did not Jesus say, “I have called you friends”? He also said, “Ye are
my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Mi3FKkXu-8 Feel
the spirit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_PFaE4eNVE come
come come
1 comment:
Great man of faith and a close friend to God!!
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